WHILE THE average citizen might think that school has returned to some semblance of normalcy, with full teacher and student attendance daily, the reality is quite different. The lifting of covid19 restrictions on the movement of citizens and the resumption of commerce, while good for the economy, has enabled the learning loss to continue.
Like many workplaces, schools are plagued with the daily occurrence of people being placed on quarantine because they have either tested positive or have been identified as a primary contact. This continues to significantly impact negatively on the delivery of curricula at the nation's schools.
Since the start of this term, school officials have been hard-pressed to ensure that children are adequately supervised/managed daily because several teachers at any given point in time have been placed on quarantine for two-week periods.
The promise by the authorities for assistance in filling this gap unsurprisingly never materialised and principals have had to find creative solutions to fulfil their first obligation of safety of students and staff. The tardiness of the Ministry of Health in issuing quarantine orders and fitness for resumption have served to further compound an already challenging situation.
This situation has exacerbated the learning loss. In addition to children being away from school on quarantine, external and internal student dropouts continue to be the order of the day because many children have simply given up - exasperated at the prospect of making up for lost time in the classroom over the past two years. Many are simply overwhelmed by the learning gap and have just lost hope.
The CSEC and CAPE results of 2021 already reflected a drop in student performance and the prognosis for 2022 is not very encouraging, with an anticipated further decline in student performance.
Despite the best efforts of teachers, it seems the learning gap created by the two-year disruption was too big to fill, especially considering there was no adjustment in curriculum and examination demands at both the primary and secondary levels. Curriculum objectives and student learning outcomes have remained the same as pre-covid19. This reflects a level of callousness and indifference by the authorities.
The meaningless platitude of a three-week extension for the commencement of the CSEC and CAPE examinations came woefully late to make any difference. The damage had already been done. Schools don't work in such a 'vie-ki-vie' ad-hoc manner.
Besides the confusion this last-minute decision created for both students and the ministry, it has resulted in increased stress and anxiety in the students. This was not a concession but rather an admission of continued incompetence on the part of CXC.
Despite this dire educational picture, the authorities only seemed focused on deflecting criticisms and allegations of covid19 outbreaks in schools, expending energies and resources to give the false impression of normalcy. Data collection by the Ministry of Education is the number one pr
